Older People Needing Care Face ‘Bleak Future’

Around 1.86 million people over 50 in England already have unmet care needs – an increase of 7% since the financial crash in 2008

Older people needing care are facing a “bleak future” because of a lack of funding, a think tank has warned. In his Spending Review last month, Chancellor George Osborne announced changes to council tax that he said would lead to a rise in care budgets. But the International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK) has said this would only “paper over the cracks” and is not enough to meet the needs of a growing older population.

It said around 1.86 million people over the age of 50 in England had unmet care needs – an increase of 7% since the financial crash in 2008. It also said the number of people over 80 had risen by 800,000 in the last decade, and that there were already around 1.5 million people providing over 50 hours a week of unpaid care – often a person’s family.

The Government said local authorities would have access to an extra £3.5bn for adult social care through the 2% council tax hike announced in the Spending Review. However, ILC-UK said it was “highly unlikely” this sum would be raised, and even if it was it would only mean care spending returns to 2015 levels by the end of the Parliament in 2020.